Hereward

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Some of you might have been following the building of Hereward in Model Boats Magazine over the last few months so i thought I would put an update on here.

Last Sunday was the Kirklees MBC Autumn Open day so, being the last event of the year I decided to have a go at getting Hereward on the water for the first time. The first challenge was getting it to the water as it is rather heavy so that entailed buying a fisherman's trolley and modifying it. Tests around the garage looked promising.

On Sunday the model, the trolley and a friends J Class were all loaded up and transported to Wilton Park Batley from Lincolnshire. At the park the trolley proved its worth and transported Hereward down to the display tables. I thought I would have a run in the morning and a run in the afternoon so, around mid morning, got the model up to steam. Everything looked good so I dropped it in the water and watched it take the first few spins of the propeller. It looked very promising, for around 20-30 seconds when it stopped! After an embarrassing recovery by a tug I took it out to find the engine was seized. All that effort and money to get it to the pond and it lasted such a short time.

The more I thought about it and the more I agonised with what to do about it the more I came to the conclusion that at least it was worth trying to remove the engine and see what was wrong. At the back of my mind was an incident a few months ago when a similar situation had occurred. The problem is a grub screw that attaches the piston rod to the crank rod that works its way out and then locks on the inside of the piston rod guide. I took the engine out, found out it was indeed the same issue on a different cylinder, dismantled the piston valve connecting rods, tightened all four grub screws up, reassembled the engine and finally replaced the engine in the model and replumbed everything in.

In the afternoon I decided to have another go. Steam was raised and the engine dropped in the water. It went really well! Good performance, engine control working perfectly and water level working fine as well. I thought I would take a couple of shots for the magazine so asked someone to bring the model past while I crouched down with my camera. Two shots before I discovered I had forgotten to put the card in the camera!

To be continued.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Sod’s law, Richard!

Small thread Loctite?. Or is it too hot for that?

Ashley

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

That's what I am thinking Ashley. It will have to come out again, dismantle the offending items before degreasing and applying a very tiny spot of Loctite to the grub screw thread. Then re-oil, reassemble and refit.

The joys of steam!

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